


Cutting Through

by SansThePacifist



Series: Watching the World Burn [9]
Category: Naruto
Genre: A Bit of Fluff, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Body Horror, Can be read alone but would be confusing, Canon-Typical Violence, Direct sequel to bittersweet memories, Fix-it (more like mess it up), Gen, Good Uchiha Obito, I wanted the word count to be more but oh well, Konoha needs stranger danger lessons ffs, Like. A little bit, Maybe - Freeform, Panic Attacks, Uchiha Obito Lives, What-If's, maybe a bit ooc, part of a series, sorry for the wait
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-08
Updated: 2019-07-08
Packaged: 2020-06-24 17:40:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,177
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19728556
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SansThePacifist/pseuds/SansThePacifist
Summary: The first thing he really,trulyheard was a scream. It was loud, angry,terrifyingly inhumane,and then a blur of red jumped onto the weird man that tried to strangle him.Obito couldn't clearly see what was happening, but he could hear. Something was growling, as if it were an angry dog. Claws were scratching against stone, an unpleasant noise that he could never get used to.





	Cutting Through

The first thing he really, _truly_ heard was a scream. It was loud, angry, _terrifyingly inhumane,_ and then a blur of red jumped onto the weird man that tried to strangle him. 

Obito couldn't clearly see what was happening, but he could hear. Something was growling, as if it were an angry dog. Claws were scratching against stone, an unpleasant noise that he could never get used to.

“ _How dare you?_ ” Kushina screamed, sounding like someone- _something-_ else, “ _How dare you hurt him!"_

The air was already thick with the smell of burnt earth but, with each second, it somehow felt heavier, as if he was being held down. 

Obito winced, pressing his palms against his eyelids, as if it would help ease the pain. It didn’t.

Blink, pain, close, open. The world was suddenly a hundred times sharper and, when he looked up-

The Kyuubi glared at him, form constantly shifting as if Obito was looking at a reflection on a rapid stream, bits flaking off and spinning itself into oblivion. The beast snarled, showing its teeth with diluted pride, and moved forward, scratching the walls and pulling back its ears.

Everything in him was screaming to _run,_ as if he knew, without a single doubt, that he would lose any sort of battle against such a being. It was a horrible feeling that dug its claws into his chest, grabbed his lungs, and _squeezed._

The Kyuubi took advantage of his terror and lunged, jaws open wide.

That was all it took for him to regain his senses. 

His scurried as far as he could go and then pressed himself against the wall, watching as the monster turned into wisps of faltering color. 

The world spun and he barely saw Kushina running at him, hair flying in locks that resembled tails, the red bubbles forming claws that reached out and-

He knew he would die if those hit him. 

He knew that they would pierce through his ribs and tear his lungs into little pieces, that they would wrap around his heart and pull it out.

He knew that it wasn't Kushina that wanted to do that.

The hand went through him.

It was strange that he felt no pain, felt nothing but a strange tingle. Whatever wanted to hurt him tried again and again to spill his blood, scraping, punching- he should have died soon after the first hit.

“Kushina,” He tried to say softly, voice coming out a hoarse whisper, and watched as her eyes widened. “Come back.” She gasped, the red chakra dissolving into her skin and eyes changing color as she pulled her hand back, expression morphing into horror. 

“O-Obito?” The tingle faded into nothing, despite the fact that he was pretty sure he literally just had a giant claw in his chest. “I-” She took a deep, shuddering breath and wrapped her arms around herself.

“Oh, _oh no.._ ! I- _I_ hurt..” Her shoulders trembled and, if the heavy breathing was anything to go by, she was hyperventilating. “I- my hand- I _j-just._.!” 

“Kushina!” She startled, refusing to look him in the eyes. “I'm perfectly fine. See? You didn't hurt me.” 

“Your neck is _bruised-_ ” He had forgotten about that in the chaos, had forgotten how his voice was likely so broken because of the hands that had wrapped around them and _squeezed._

That's not your fault- he wanted to say- _you_ didn't do anything to me.

Instead, all he managed to do was repeat himself. "You didn't hurt me."

Why _didn't_ it hurt him?

That attack should have killed him, there was no doubt. So, that only left a question he had a feeling he would never get an answer to.

Why _didn’t_ it?

“Kaa-san? ‘re you okay?” _Naruto._

“Oh thank sage,” Obito whispered, feeling immediate relief at the familiar voice. Naruto was alright, but… “How did you get here?” 

Naruto smiled brightly.

“Plant guy-” Plant guy? “Told me he'd give me some ramen but then he didn't, so I kicked him and ran ‘way, dattebayo!” …Wasn't the academy supposed to teach students not to follow strangers? Did they _do_ that anymore? “Then nice man found me and helped find you both! He looked kind of sad though, maybe he forgot to buy ramen?”

“N.. Nice man?” Kushina inhaled sharply, still not completely calm. “D- Don’t follow strangers willy-nilly, dattebane! I was so _worried_ ! I thought you-.. _you_..!” In only seconds, she was on her knees, arms wrapped around her son. 

“Kaa-san?” Obito heard her hiccup and saw Naruto start to tear up. “Why‘re you crying..?” 

“‘M not crying,” Kushina sobbed, “ _You're_ crying!”

“N-no ‘m not! Tobi-nii is!”

“What!? No!” Obito squawked, feeling his cheeks flush at being called out by a seven year old. He heard Kushina laugh shakily as he wiped his tears onto the cuff of his sleeve.

* * *

Madara didn't understand why he went against the plan. He was supposed to make the boy disappear and then seal the kyuubi inside that weird statue. So why didn't he? Why did seeing that child make him feel as if he was doing the worst kind of mistake, like someone would be so disappointed in him. 

Why disappointed and not angry? 

Looking at the boy made him feel as if someone had punched him in the gut and it hurt. It did. 

Madara didn't understand it. He was supposed to feel nothing for those pathetic traitors, for those who left him behind- who _betrayed_ him.

But… Did that boy, innocent, _naive,_ deserve to be killed for the actions of his ancestors? Did the village deserve to be ruined because the past generations had been cruel? 

_Fuck._

He was supposed to kill that Uchiha as well, he was supposed to trap him in a box of wood and tear him apart. He was supposed to let Zetsu drain all of the energy from the Kyuubi's jinchuuriki, let the beast sleep as it gets put to use.

He couldn't do that either.

Why couldn't he do it?

Instead, he ran away when the Kyuubi started to scream. Instead, he found the boy hiding in a bush. Instead, he helped the boy of gold find his parent.

Instead, he ran away again.

Zetsu- made of shadow and poison- was disappointed. 

Oh, it was so strange that he felt ill at the thought of spilling blood on his hands for their plans. He had been so sure earlier, so why did it make him feel so… So horrible?

Strange, though, that Zetsu was the one scolding him when he was the one who was doing all of the work, wasn't it? 

Shouldn't he be the one scolding Zetsu for not preparing him?

Days passed before he so much as tried to figure a new plan. Flowers expressed his stress, creeping through the cracks and climbing the walls. Why was this giving him so much trouble? It should be so easy to find a solution but- He didn't want to hurt them.

He was supposed to, he knew that.

So, why did he care?

_Why?_

**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to join the Discord! It is not very big, but I would love to meet the readers and get suggestions!  
> The invite is; https://discord.gg/wsyVDWr


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